Kalagan

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A language of Philippines

ISO 639-3
kqe
Alternate Names
Kaagan, Kalagan, Minuslim, Kinalagan
Population

70,000 (2002 census), decreasing. 7,000 monolinguals. Ethnic population: 70,000. L2 users: Used by those intermarrying with local speakers.

Location

Mindanao, Davao del Sur and Davao, Compostela Valley, and Davao Oriental provinces, east and west shores of Davao gulf. Isamal dialect: Samal Island; Western dialect: Davao Oriental Province, Lupon along the gulf down to Hagonoy and Guihing near Digos city; Eastern dialect: mainly Davao Oriental Province.

Language Maps
Language Status

5 (Developing).

Classification
Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian, Philippine, Greater Central Philippine, Central Philippine, Mansakan, Western
Dialects

Eastern Kalagan, Isamal, Western Kalagan. Lexical similarity: 72% with Kagan [kll], 74% with Mansaka [msk], 83% with Mandaya [mry].

Typology

VOS, VSO; prepositions; articles before adjectives, before numerals, before noun heads; question word in sentence-initial position; 3 maximum prefixes, 2 maximum suffixes.

Language Use

Strong in communities that are mainly Kalagan, but in mixed communities speakers tend to use Cebuano [ceb]. Youth bilingual in Cebuano, some are losing Kalagan ability. Home, neighborhood, religion. Adults; youth only in solid Kalagan communities. Sample scored 87% on Cebuano [ceb] narrative text. Also use English [eng], Tagalog [tgl]. Used as L2 by Koronadal Blaan [bpr], Tausug [tsg].

Language Development
Literacy rate in L1: 80%. Literacy rate in L2: 80% in Cebuano, 50% in Tagalog; English. Bible portions: 1989–2011.
Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Kalagan
Writing

Latin script [Latn].

Other Comments

Muslim.